


Lay Your Hands On Me

by Polarnacht



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt Jace Wayland, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Art, Love, M/M, Protective Alec Lightwood, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26337652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polarnacht/pseuds/Polarnacht
Summary: Jace knows of the importance of hands. Hands can punish, they can fight, they can kill. It’s when he meets Alec that he learns that hands can also do other things. They can mend, they can caress, they can love.A Jalec love storyInspired by Agent0069's beautiful drawing of hands
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73
Collections: September Server Scavenger Hunt 2020





	Lay Your Hands On Me

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by the amazing drawing of hands you'll see below. A huge thank you to Agent0069 for inspiring me and letting me use this beautiful piece of art. 
> 
> Thank you, Jessa, for the great beta work! It is greatly appreciated.

**Lay Your Hands On Me**

There were 27 bones in one hand. 27 different ways to break. Jace knew most of them. He knew how it felt to break a finger by accident, he knew how it felt to have it broken on purpose. The pain was similar, and yet so different. Whenever he played the piano, the ghost of the pain played with him, floating over him like a shadow. He was a quick learner, yet his father found enough mistakes. 

Therefore Jace also knew that hands could break in a different way. Hands could try to break you. He had learned early on rather to bend than to break but nevertheless, his father’s hands marked him; tainted him, inwardly and outwardly. 

Jace knew that his hands were his most important weapon. He knew his hands drew the runes that enhanced his abilities, transforming him from an ordinary mundane to a deadly Shadowhunter. Knew his hands held the weapons that killed demons. Knew his hands could clench into fists and thus be used as a weapon in itself, when all other weapons were long lost.

Jace could never keep his hands still. They were always in motion, fidgeting with his stele, a knife, just something. His hands kept his mind busy so he didn’t have to think of the other things hands could do. Only when his father’s sharp and unforgiving gaze found him did Jace force himself to keep his hands unmoving and steady. 

The restlessness of his hands stayed even after his father died and he moved in with the Lightwoods. He didn’t quite know what to feel when he had to live with a family of total strangers. The parents were easily impressed, impressed by the things his hands could do. Fight, throw, kill. Then there were the children. Max was too small to have a real opinion, Izzy was eager to have another big brother. 

And then there was Alec. Alec, who showed him what other things hands could do. Alec who drew runes on him with a tenderness that startled him, Alec who tended to his wounds, Alec who caught him when he fell. It was Alec who taught him that hands couldn’t just break, but also mend. Alec’s hands which for the first time in Jace’s life, made him feel safe, cared for, even loved. It was Alec and it would always be Alec. Even being just a kid, Jace knew it to be true.

*

Jace woke slowly, one of the few mornings he woke before his alarm clock. He lay on his back, his head resting comfortably on a fluffy pillow. He suppressed a yawn and stretched his still tired muscles carefully so as to not wake Alec up, who lay next to him, still deep at sleep. 

Jace turned his head to the right to watch his Parabatai sleep. His back heaved peacefully up and down, his eyes covered by his thick dark lashes, a tentative smile playing around his lips. Alec looked always younger when he slept, for once not carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. But even in his sleep, Alec protected him. 

Alec lay on his belly, his face turned to Jace, one arm slung around his chest, his right hand pressing down Jace’s left, keeping him still. And safe. Jace’s nights had been haunted by nightmares until the moment Alec had slipped into his room, crawled in his bed and declared that he was there to stay, no matter how many times Jace had proclaimed to be just fine. 

Whenever Jace had started to toss in his sleep, Alec had taken his hands in his own and pinned Jace down, until his nightmares had faded and he had found peace in his sleep. It was the way they still slept, whenever possible. Their hands entwined, as were their souls, bound together by a holy oath and much more.

Jace smiled when he saw that Alec’s eyes started to flutter. It deepened when Alec’s face lit up like it always did when he saw him, the charm not gone even after so many years. 

“Hey, beautiful,” Jace whispered before he leaned in to kiss Alec’s lips, which felt tender and rough at the same time. Alec groaned sleepily and contently, his hold on Jace’s hand tightening while he turned him around, so that he was spooning him from behind, their hands never letting go of each other. 

“Good morning,” Alec mumbled into Jace’s nape, sucking a small hickey into his throat, before he closed his eyes again, enjoying the last moments before the alarm clock would announce another day. His thumb brushed tenderly over Jace’s scarred hand, earning him a pleased humming. 

There were 27 bones to break in a hand, but there were even more ways to caress with a hand. And thanks to Alec, Jace knew them all. 


End file.
